The
Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported today that it will publish an interview with
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday evening in which he states that Israel
will expel tens of thousands of Palestinians after it completes its
“security fence.” Mr. Sharon said in the interview that “[Israel has] a
difficult problem with those who are illegally exercising [what they
perceive] as their right of return, by infiltrating into Arab cities and
villages within Israel.” The Israeli prime minister is referring to areas
within the 1967 borders which are populated mostly by Palestinian Arabs who
are Israeli citizens.

In the interview Sharon
complains that in the absence of a completed “fence,” the illegal
Palestinians who are found within Israel and deported, are liable to return
again. Sharon further states that when the fence is completed it will then
be much more difficult for those who are deported to return, and at that
point the government will be much more vigorous in pursuing Palestinians who
are illegally residing in Israel. Sharon specifically said that the number
of illegals are in the tens of thousands.

It has been widely reported
in the Israeli media that the Prime Minister has given numerous interviews,
all of which are designated to be released shortly before the Passover
holiday, in which he threatens the life of Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat. However, the threat to expel Palestinians from within Israel could,
in the long run, prove to be even more provocative than the threat against
Arafat. It has long been thought that Sharon does not believe that killing
or even expelling Arafat is in Israel’s best interest. It is also widely
assumed that he will honor his promise to the Americans not to harm or
deport the Palestinian leader. However, threatening Arafat is considered a
sure-fire way for right-wing Israeli politicians to please their
constituents.

Unlike threats against
Arafat, the problem of thousands of “infiltrators” living in Israel proper
has not been widely articulated as a pressing problem. Some Palestinians
from the territories are known to be living in Israel in order to avoid the
burden of traveling daily through the checkpoints on their way from the
territories. But the idea of identifying tens of thousands of Palestinians
for deportation will surely kindle fears of indiscriminate and illegal
transfer for many Israeli Arabs citizens. Unlike killing Arafat, which would
cause an immediate international incident, transferring large numbers of
Palestinian Arabs citizens could be accomplished in a gradual manner under
the cover of removing illegal residents, and thus avoid any international
condemnation.

The term “infiltrator” was
widely used in the early 1950s when many Palestinians illegally crossed the
same border from what was then Jordanian territory. Some came to harvest
crops from land which they once owned, some came to visit relatives and some
came with the goal of permanent return to the land from which they were
exiled. Although only a minority of those who illegally crossed into Israel
came to commit crimes against Israelis, the word “infiltrator” became
synonymous with “terrorist.” The Israeli military response to those who
illegally crossed the border has been described as indiscriminate and
disproportionate by some Israeli historians. The army commander in charge of
the campaign against the infiltrators was a young Army officer then known as
Alex Sharon.

The Sharon interviews will
be published and broadcast in the Israeli media on Monday in connection with
the celebration of the Passover Holiday. Passover commemorates the ancient
Jews’ liberation from their oppression by the Egyptians.

Ira Glunts first visited the Middle East in 1972, where he taught
English and physical education in a small rural community in Israel. He was
a volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces in 1992. Mr. Glunts lives in the
Madison, New York, where he operates a used and rare book business. He can
be reached at:
iglunts@usadatanet.net.